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E3 2013: ArcheAge beta signups are live [Updated]
Zomg, ArcheAge beta signups are live! In the West! How cool is that? It's so cool that I could really just stop writing this post now and leave it at that. Seems we have this acceptable word count thing, though, so let's see. ArcheAge is a fantasy sandpark that's been in development for nearly six years by Korea's XLGAMES. Lineage creator Jake Song is the brains behind the game, and Trion Worlds is publishing the title for the western market. The game's feature set is too long to list here, but it includes open PvP, sieges, extensive player housing, hang-gliders, sailing ships, steampunk tractors, and a whole lot more that you can learn about via our ArcheAge category and dedicated column. Don't forget to look for our ArcheAge E3 interview later this week. [Update]: We've added the ArcheAge teaser trailer shown to the media at this week's E3. Watch it after the cut. [Thanks Soren!] %Gallery-191137%
Pimp your space ride with Star Citizen's customization systems
Star Citizen is shaping up to be a lot of things, but at its core it's a spaceship game. As such, Cloud Imperium has released a meaty new FAQ designed to introduce ship components and the mechanics that tie them together. It's a dense read thanks to all of the systems involved (hull, avionics, power plant, thrusters, and intakes, just to name a few), and it's clear that both resource management and a certain amount of micromanagement are major design goals. Interestingly, though, Chris Roberts and company say that drilling down deep into the ship mechanics is optional. "If you're itching to get out there and fight or explore or trade, grab a factory model, add the few parts that you absolutely need, and head for the stars," the update explains. If you do decide to do a bit of research and customization alongside your flying and fighting, Cloud Imperium says that you'll end up with a singular ship of dreams. "When you build a ship, we want you to feel like that ship is yours; that it's not just a carbon copy of every other Aurora or Freelancer that you encounter," the company says. "You will have a sense of pride when you pilot your craft, knowing that while there may be many like it, this one is your own, unique in the universe."
Chris Roberts returns with open-world Star Citizen sandbox
It's a good day to be a hardcore gamer, folks, particularly if you grew up playing Wing Commander, Freelancer, or any number of similar PC-exclusive space sims. Genre heavyweight Chris Roberts has finally unveiled his new project, and it looks to be a sprawling open-world title called Star Citizen. Roberts has released an 11-minute video detailing various aspects of the ambitious game (it's been in development for a year now), which include a co-op fighter pilot campaign and a huge Freelancer-style cosmos that allows players to pursue their own goals. Wanna be a pirate? Go ahead. A trader? Sure thing. Oh, you want absurdly immersive details like full working cockpits, flightsuit wrinkles, and physics-based spaceflight too? You got 'em. "I'm building the game, and a universe, that I would like to play, so it's for gamers like myself," Roberts explains. "I wouldn't say that I'm a social, casual gamer who plays Farmville. I like sophisticated experiences." Roberts goes on to explain why he's chosen the route of PC-exclusive in an era when consoles and mobile platforms are all the rage, and he also touches on the subject of crowd-funding. His goal is a relatively modest $2 million, and he's aiming to achieve it directly on the game's own website rather than via a third-party intermediary like Kickstarter. He's also got quite a bit of in-engine footage to show already, and you can see it in the clip after the cut. Is Star Citizen an MMO, though? That's hard to say at this juncture. We know it's massive in scale, and we know it's multiplayer, but thus far we don't know much about the server setup or how many concurrent users are in the cards. [Thanks to Scott for the tip!]
EVE Fanfest 2011: Closing ceremony video cluster shows off the future of the sandbox
Lots of super-cool stuff is coming out of this week's EVE Fanfest, much of it making sci-fi sandbox fanboys (and girls) weak in the knees. Possibly the slickest thing to date is a new video dubbed A Future Vision, in which CCP tips its hand for tying together the whole of New Eden across multiple gaming platforms. The clip is just under three minutes in length and shows off the integration of EVE Online's internet spaceships with DUST 514's ground-based mercs, war machines, and morally grey mayhem. While the footage is scripted and hand-made for the trailer, it was produced using CCP's proprietary Carbon graphics engine toolset (and is intended to represent what players will see and do in future versions of the EVE universe). A Future Vision is necessarily focused on expanding New Eden beyond ships, wormholes, and star gates, but CCP isn't neglecting its bread and butter either, as evidenced by an additional new trailer featuring turret upgrades to existing ships, as well as one featuring new nebula graphics. Check in with Massively all weekend as Brendan Drain, our resident EVE expert, weighs in on A Future Vision as well as all the exciting tidbits from EVE Fanfest 2011. In the meantime, you can view the trailers after the cut.
GDC 2011: Jeff Strain lets us eat... err... pick his brains on Undead Labs' upcoming zombie MMO
The team at Undead Labs has big plans for the studio's first two projects currently under development: Class 3 and Class 4. So far, we know that Class 3 will be a non-MMO console zombie shoot-em-up game developed for Xbox Live, and Class 4 is intended to be the game that crosses into a massively online world. That's why we were glad to sit down with Jeff Strain, founder of Undead Labs, to hear more details on the studio's gory game goodness, which is surely lurking and primed to pounce on us and eat our brains -- or at least some of our gaming time. Are you hungry for all the meaty details of this ambitious console horror game? Join us behind the break for more!
The Tattered Notebook: EverQuest II's year in review
EverQuest II may be the ripe old age of six, but it certainly isn't showing signs of slowing down. With 2010 coming to a close, it's time to look back on the past year, which was marked with several major changes to the game. Read on for The Tattered Notebook's year in review, and then share your memories of the past year in EverQuest II.
Voice chat - zOMG!
Well, yes, we are happy about this, but zOMG! is the name of the MMO, not an expression of our excitement. Vivox, the company that provides voice chat in quite a few of our favorite games, has added one more to their list. They've partnered with Gaia Online to provide in game voice chat for zOMG!, their free-to-play browser based MMO. "Gaia Online has defined the social web experience for millions of teens and young adults," said Rob Seaver, CEO of Vivox. "And voice is the ultimate social glue. By adding voice chat to zOMG!, Gaia Online proves, again, its commitment to providing a truly social experience for its players." Vivox voice chat is live in zOMG! now for players to "gab to your heart's content using the power of your own face-hole, saving valuable keystrokes for more efficient monster bashing," according to the zOMG! monthly newsletter. True to form, zOMG! has added their own twist on it as well: players can purchase voice fonts in the storefront to give their voice a unique twist. Congratulations to Gaia Online and Vivox for their partnership!
Composer Jeremy Soule on creating the music for zOMG!
If you're the type of person who turns your game music off, to listen to your favorite mp3s while gaming, then this post is not for you. Anyone who has bought a game soundtrack in the last 15 years is probably aware of the name Jeremy Soule. He has worked on such mega hits as Guild Wars, Oblivion, Morrowind, Company of Heroes, KOTOR, Neverwinter Nights and many more. I guess you could say he's kinda legendary.His latest endeavor includes music for Gaia Online's zOMG! MMO. Worlds in Motion was fortunate enough to sit down with Soule and discuss his work on this game, and his origins in the business. Since 1994, Soule has created some amazing in-game music, so working with a Flash-based MMO is something new for him. He sees it as a way for more people to hear his work, and enjoy what he creates. Check out the entire article and his official website for more on Jeremy Soule.
Gaia Online makes modest staff cuts
Here's yet another news post on companies cutting back on their staff, oh boy. At least with Gaia Online it's a paltry 36 employees, 16 full-time staff and 20 contractors. That happens to be about 13% of the staff and is attributed to the less-than expected performance of zOMG!, which had around 500k players in November and just hit one million. As large as that number sounds, it's being drawn from the 11 million base of Gaia Online, so, it's all relative.There doesn't seem to be much worrying though, as the company has said they're merely preparing for a downturn in the coming year. We get the feeling that news like this is going to keep coming over the next 12-18 months, if not a little longer. Hopefully though, it's only small cuts like this and not the sort of job loss that's starting to become expected at other well-known developers.For those of you scratching your heads over this whole "zOMG!" game, check out Massively's first impressions for a glimpse into the beast, as they say.
zOMG! beta reaches half a million players
Gaia Online's latest title, zOMG!, has attracted over half a million beta users, according to Worlds in Motion. This cutesy, anime-looking game was named by the players back in July of this year and has enjoyed tremendous success even this early in its life cycle.zOMG! is a Flash-based browser game marketed primarily to children and teens. Players earn Gaia Gold by interacting with the Gaia website and can then spend said gold to customize their avatar. If you're interested in trying the beta or just looking for more information on what it's all about, check out our First Impression of zOMG!.%Gallery-38996%
First Impressions: zOMG!
In First Impressions, Krystalle takes on a new MMORPG weekly and reports back at what the first few hours of playing it are like. Is it painful? Awesome? Are there cool mechanics? Silly quests? Find out each week as she takes an unscientific (and highly opinionated) view at a game you may not have seen. Also remember, this is not a review; simply a First Impression - as such, we always recommend you give games that seem interesting a shot and decide for yourself. This week I head into the world of Gaia Interactive's beta MMO project, zOMG! Having never actually waded hip-deep into the Gaia community, it was certainly an enlightening experience. Some good, some bad, with a word to parents as well. Curious as to what's involved in the anime-inspired world of zOMG? Have a seat and read on, but watch out - some of the chairs bite. First Impressions: zOMG! >> %Gallery-38996%
Sony hears our prayers: ABBA SingStar 'super troupers' in this holiday
When SingStar Bollywood was released last year, we were quite serious about expressing our desire for ABBA SingStar. Now, our dreams have come true. MCV reports the iconic Swedish pop super group's Singstar will be available in Europe and the US, for the PS2 and PS3, this holiday.Sony's David Reeves says the company has a "window of exclusivity for ABBA disc-based titles on PlayStation until 2009." Hey now, if Jimmy Buffet is in Rock Band, why can't ABBA be? Come to think of it, we asked for ABBA there too. Mamma Mia!
Gaia Online's MMO is actually called zOMG! (and it's in beta now)
The closed beta test of Gaia Online's much-anticipated MMO has officially begun. Here's the kicker: it has a name! And that name is zOMG!. No, really. The name of the MMO is actually zOMG!. Previously, it was called Gaia Battle. That was rather generic, so this is probably a step up. The name was chosen out of hundreds of submissions from Gaia regulars. Said Senior Producer Dave Georgeson to Wired: "it captures the spirit of our users." Those users are mostly teens. Until now, Gaia Online has simply been a casual games portal and forum community. zOMG! is an MMO built on that foundation.If you're not familiar with Gaia Battle -- err, we mean zOMG! -- it's a browser-based game that will run on any computer that plays nice with Flash. Gameplay involves combat -- which centers around upgradable magic ring items -- and minigames. Social networking type stuff is laced in as well.%Gallery-27139%
Super Tuesday iPod touch Easter Egg
You have so got to love Apple. If you own a jailbroken iPod touch and have bought the January Software Upgrade, navigate yourself over to /private/var/mobile/Applications. There, you'll find your nikita_receipt.plist. Open it in your favorite property list editor, copy the payload (from <data> to </data>) and use your favorite online base64 converter to decode. Perhaps Apple engineers wish they could vote for Lincoln this time around. Thanks to the amazing DRP Team and pumpkin, and Francis who gave us the heads up on this
